Promising Shadows

by Storm Shine

Chasing Freedom

"Okay, Here goes..." I said, a bit nervously, as I raised the sword. I pointed it at the ground and stabbed down, cutting into the stone slabs with ease. "Huh.. Is this sword magic or something?"

Shady's ring rolled it's eyes, seeing as she couldn't remain in her phantasmal form during the process. "No, it's a very normal, very dull sword. That is why it can cut through solid stone with ease."

"Hey, no need to be so snippy" I replied a bit defensively.

"Well I wouldn't be snippy if you weren't delaying my release by getting distracted at every little thing." She pouted angrily at me. "Just do it already."

"Okay, hol-" I cut myself off as a small white blur ran in front of me, snatching the ring and stopping on a nearby stone. "Shady!" I shouted out in surprise as the blur, which turned out to be a white rabbit, stuck its tongue out at me and took off.

"Hey, get back here!" I yelled, putting my sword back into Shroud and giving chase.

I chased that rabbit through the whole castle and then some, even ending up running through the Everfree at some point... Then, suddenly, the rabbit stopped on a dime. Unfortunately, as I inconveniently forgot, humans aren't built to stop in an instant after running full tilt, which means my momentum sent me rolling head-over-heels for a few moments.

"Oh SUNNUVA-OW!" I yelled out, impacting a tree with bone-bruising force.

I could hear the rabbit laughing at me as I got up from where I'd smacked into the tree. "Yeah, yeah, Laugh it up furball." I growled, glaring angrily at it. "When I catch you, I'm going to make Rabbit Stew out of you."

The rabbit blew a raspberry at me, making to run off again before suddenly freezing. It stared at something I couldn't see as it dropped the ring, and seriously booked it in the other direction. "What the hell?"

Shrugging, and rolling my eyes, I began to move to pick up Shady's ring but I stopped as a hissing noise filled my ears. Shady manifested herself as I stopped, "What are you doing just standing there Tony? Get over here and pick me up already! Ugh, I've got rabbit drool all over me.." Her form grimaced and shuddered slightly, looking over her ring.

"Hang on Shady, there's something here.." I replied wearily

"I don't care!" She responded petulantly, crossing her arms and frowning at me. "Just get my ring already!"

"Cockadoodle-Doo!" a Cockatrice crowed angrily, bursting out of the bushes between me and the ring.

I blinked in surprise, looking at the Cockatrice. "I don't... I mean.. I can't even..." It began as a smile, which turned into a chuckle, and then full blown laughter. "THIS is a cockatrice!?" I laughed out, holding my sides. "THIS is what Luna bragged about hunting before her banishment!? If it weren't for the slightly draconic wings, it would look like a chicken got a snake shoved up its ass and then fused with it!" I choked out as I kept laughing, doubling over a bit and pointing at it. "It's almost like the Snake and Chicken version of a Centaur!"

The Snicken, as I shall forever remember it, crowed angrily at me, rearing up on it's tail and attempting to 'stare me to stone'. "Oh no, I'm so scared~!" I laughed out, even as my feet began to harden and lose feeling. "Oh my god, I can't even take this seriously..." I had a really hard time calming down.. By the time I stopped laughing, I was petrified up to the waist, not even bothering to look away.

"Hey snake-butt, you know why I'm not afraid of you?" I smirked, the petrification halfway up my chest. "Well, aside from how effing ridiculous you look anyway..."

It made an odd confused-sounding cluck, tilting it's head with a raised brow at my confidence. "Er-roo?"

I chuckled again, keeping it small so I wouldn't go into another laughing fit, and used Shroud to smack it hard enough to send it flying against the trunk of a tree. Immediately afterwords, the stone covering my form shattered, falling to the ground as I walked unhindered towards the creature. "Because if a Cockatrice loses concentration during the petrification, the victim is freed." I told it, wrapping it up in one of the 'limbs' of my cape and bringing it closer. "Luna used to hunt your kind, among others, before her banishment; and she loves telling stories about her old hunts."

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it, so I decided to decide later. Bringing up the other 'limb' of Shroud, I dropped the cockatrice on it and watched as it sunk into the.. Fabric? Not entirely sure what it's made of actually.. Anyways, It was odd to see; like watching a magnet sink into some of that 'Smart Putty' stuff John bought once.

Shaking my head, I turned back to get the ring and saw... THAT DAMNED RABBIT AGAIN! It blew another raspberry at me and took off with the ring. "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!" I yelled, running after it again. What next? A manticore!?

---

To my slight relief, the chase took us out of the Everfree and towards what looked like a cottage. The rabbit ran towards it and began knocking on the door frantically as I advanced.

"Ha! I've got you now furball!" I laughed menacingly, advancing on the rabbit with murder in my eyes as it turned to face me; back against the door.

"Angel!" A, somewhat familiar, yellow pegasus mare gasped as she opened the door, allowing the rabbit to fall backwards comically. "Where have you been? I was so worried!" She cried out, bringing the creature up for a hug. The rabbit squeaked and gestured wildly, causing her to gasp and turn to glare at me.

"How could you!" She exclaimed, pointing accusingly at me.

Uh... Excuse me?

"You should be ashamed of yourself, chasing poor innocent Angel bunny around and scaring him!" She continued. "You could have hurt him, or worse!"

I looked incredulously at her obvious naivety, I mean.. Innocent? Innocent my ass! If that rabbit is innocent, then my grandfather is Superman! "I think you're misinformed." I replied calmly, doing my best not to just off and yell at her. "That rabbit stole something from me. A ring, which is very important to me."

Seeing as my friend is trapped inside it, yeah... Super important. And the damned rabbit had the nerve to just hide the ring behind its back and whistle... I don't think I'll ever get used to the human-like characteristics most of the animals here have.. It's like living in a fricking cartoon sometimes!

"If I can just get it back, I'll be on my way." I continued, glaring at the rodent as it flicked me off behind the mare's back. One day Rabbit, one day...

"Angel Bunny!" She gasped, turning around; conveniently, and just barely so, missing the gesture. I took the opportunity to share a digit with the little nuisance in return, causing it to attempt to glare fiercely. Surprisingly, that gesture seems to be universal with non-hoofed creatures around here..

"Did you take this nice man's ring?" Nice? Well, I mean, sometimes. But I'd really say I'm just being polite here; Nice men don't flip off rabbits, I'm sure. John was nice, Dante was decent, I'm just a lot less obvious or rude than most about some things.

The rabbit shook its head, still attempting to hide the ring. "Yes, he did." a voice responded from behind the rodent's back, startling it into dropping the ring. "Ouch! Watch it you pathetic vermin!" Shady yelled, materializing once more from the ring. Shroud quickly grabbed onto it for me, depositing her current physical form into my waiting hand.

"Sorry about that Shady." I apologized.

"You know, this would have happened if YOU HAD JUST PICKED ME UP WHEN I TOLD YOU TO!" The upset Shu-Shu yelled at me, poking one ghostly finger into my chest. "I told you to pick me up, I said that I had rabbit slobber on me, but NOOO~! You had to play mister 'I'm a tough guy, look at me laugh at danger' with the stupid Cockatrice!"

"Shady, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to have all that happen." I apologized again, putting a hand on her phantasmal shoulder.

"Hmph." She huffed and turned away from me.

"I'll make you pancakes later as an apology~" I offered with a smile, moving to stand in front of her again.

Shady looked away, remaining silent for a few moments before she finally responded. "...With chocolate chips?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes, and I'll even make some with those little strawberry chunks." I replied, "And you'll be able to taste it properly, after I free you."

"...Fine." She replied, finally looking at me "I forgive you. Now hurry up and get me out of this thing."

"Your wish is my command" I teased, doing a little bow before teleporting us back to the castle, leaving the yellow mare and the rabbit behind; gawking incredulously at the spot we'd been standing.

---

I stood in front of Shadofang's ring again, sword in hand. "Now then, to do this right..." I paused, "Now, what was it I thought up again.. I remember that they freed Rubilax by stating a few words, things I'm guessing are traits of his, followed by his Shu-Shu 'title' and the words 'Show yourself!'.." I thought about it for a bit, before finally thinking of something that seemed suited for Shady

"Here it goes..." I stabbed my sword into the ground again, some instinct or feeling leading me to drive it into the shadows near the ring, this time causing the stone to spiderweb with glowing purple cracks, moving to encompass a small area around the ring "Treachery! Deceit! Pancake Obsession! Shu-Shu of Darkness! Reveal yourself!" I exclaimed confidently, causing a wall of shadows and darkness to rise up and encompass the entire castle. I felt like I was weightless, floating in an endless abyss. I couldn't feel the stone beneath my feet, nor could I even see so much as my own two hands.. It felt like I was nothing but a formless entity, floating in an eternity of nothing..

Then, just as suddenly as it began, it ended. I was once again in the castle, standing on the stone floor in front of the most beautiful woman I had ever set eyes on. She was about as tall as me, clad in simple clothes of pure darkness, with purple skin and hair, as well as a lone visible eye; the red of the iris glowing as she regarded me with gratitude and amusement. "S-Shady?"

She gave me a fanged grin, "Yes John, it's me" She giggled, "So, how do I look?"

"Well..." I tried to find the words to express it, but the most I could come up with was... "Amazing.. I- I've never seen anyone more beautiful." IDIOT!

Shady smirked at that, giving another giggle. "You know what would be even better than listening to you compliment me?"

"What?" I replied curiously.

"Pancakes! Come on, let's get home, you still have a promise to keep!" She cheered childishly, scooping up the ring she had once occupied and pushed it into my hands before dragging me towards home.

Author's Note:

Phew, Cliffhanger averted! You can all climb back onto the cliff now, make sure to watch your step!

Yep, got this chapter out only four days after the last one, how awesome is that? Though, admittedly, I spent most of that time doing absolutely nothing on the chapter. I usually wait, then sit down and get the whole thing done in an hour or so. Usually that's because I have to wait for inspiration, but this time I guess I was just being a bit lazy/mean and waiting to see your opinions and build suspense.

Shadofang's new appearance is largely the same as the picture in the first chapter, except the clothing. So the main changes are that she isn't see-through now, she has a lower body now, and she's wearing a dress of pure darkness (and of a design that doesn't restrict her movement.), and her mouth is an actual mouth with teeth and everything (Oh, and fangs). So she's more human-like and stuff than she was in the picture.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, took me a bit to come up with the phrasing. The original phrasing for Rubilax was 'Despair! Fear! Bad Temper! Shu-Shu of Carnage! Show yourself!' or something like that. I was also bouncing around a few different ideas for how to make this chapter go, such as:

Free her, something appears to fight

Freedom, and then some slice of life stuff (This seemed like the worst option to me, given how often I've done those on this story.)

or, this one, Attempt to free her but something shows up and snatches the ring, leading Tony on a merry little chase to get her back. That one had the most potential in my opinion (Plus, I have an idea for the Cockatrice )

Also, admittedly, I can't help but laugh at the MLP Cockatrice... I mean, it looks ridiculous!
Admittedly, it's almost cute in a way, like in this pic.

Not sure if you can really break free by disrupting it's focus, but the encounter with Fluttershy kind of makes it seem possible, and it's my fanfic, so~... Yep.

Anyways, Hope everyone enjoyed! As usual, comments are good, Comment, like, and whatnot! Ideas are appreciated, and constructive criticism accepted!

Comments

[Storm Shine]

7772459 You can expect it right about now.

[Krazyfan1]

Great as usual!
....that Cockatrice is going to come in handy later, isn't it?
you could manifest the side of the face with its eye, and point it at an opponent..
...also, when Rubilax was brought into the shucruft, he could get out of the sword at will, as "the guardians laws are worthless there"

[Storm Shine]

7774457

Glad you're still enjoying my fic!

Yeah, I remember that... speaking of which... I might~ end up using/mentioning/something else about the world of Rushu to some extent at some point. But anyways, The guardian's rules do still apply in that Equestria, but they're just more lenient. Hence the ghostly manifestations that Shadofang was capable of.

As for the Cockatrice... Well, I had another idea entirely for that, but that idea is great too. Hmm... I'll have to argue with myself over this for a bit.

[Cosmic Flare]

I had fun. 9 weeks 5days from last update, hop it's not getting hard for you to make up more of the story my fellow crazy frieennd I like the Wakfu story. #

[Brende Moure]

SO MUCH YES!!! I LOVE IT!!! and it's well written to boot... yay.

[ponyheart07]

PLEASE UPDATE THIS!?

[THEMACHODEMONBOY]

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